Thursday, November 14, 2013

Today I am very happy to welcome another one of my favorite writers and film historians to Moon in the Gutter, Mr. Casey Scott. Many of you will already be familiar with Casey due to his online writing (from DVD Drive-In to The Grrrl Can't Help It) to his work with DVD companies (ranging from Media Blasters to Vinegar Syndrome) to his academic work. I know Casey as a friend as well and I consider him on of the most knowledgeable film historians on the planet whose work has provided a lot of inspiration. Casey can now add film-curator to his long resume as he has a truly exciting and important program coming up at New York's Anthology Film Archives called In The Flesh. To celebrate this event Casey kindly agreed to answer a few questions for us here at Moon in the Gutter. I hope everyone enjoys the interview, will check out some of Casey's work and, if you are in the New York area, please attend In The Flesh December 5th through the 8th.

Hey Casey, thanks so much for taking time out of your schedule to participate in this! First off, can you tell us a bit about your background?

Thanks so much for approaching me for an interview!
This is my first time being on the other side of an interview, and I’m honored
it’s for a blog I really love. Well, I’ve been a film enthusiast since I was a
kid and, like so many of us movie nuts, it stuck with me into adulthood. I
dabbled with the idea of making movies for a time during middle and high
school, when I shot a few amateur efforts with the family camcorder and took a
TV production course, where I really loved the editing process. I still do. But
I decided writing and research was what I most enjoyed about the film world, so
I pursued my M.A. in cinema studies at NYU and just graduated in May, so watch
out, world!

Was there a particular film, song or artist that initially sparked your interest in the arts as a child?

I can honestly say I was always an artistic child, very
into books and music, and film kind of transformed my life after I started
digging into the classics from the studio era. All About Eve (1950), Gone
with the Wind (1939), the usual big name titles. I’m still a hardcore
classic Hollywood fanatic. Turner Classic Movies is my best friend, which may
surprise some people who learn I’m obsessive about adult films. Barbara
Stanwyck is my favorite actress, Cary Grant my favorite actor, I love Capra and
Wellman and Ford, the list goes on and on…

A behind the scenes moment in 1941 with Barbara Stanwyck and Preston Sturges.

The classic Hollywood films of the sound era are probably the most discussed in the world but lets switch gears and talk about sadly the least discussed, namely the adult and exploitation films of the seventies and eighties.

You are one of the leading film historians on this period in the world. How did you first get interested in the genre?

Wow, well first of all, thank you for speaking so
highly of me. It means a lot! I have had a photographic memory since an early
age, and that helps with absorbing and processing so much information about the
genre. I just love these movies and the people who made them! My interest in
classic adult stemmed from my ongoing fascination with exploitation and
sexploitation of the pre-hardcore era. I followed favorite filmmakers from the
soft and horror world, like Gary Graver, Roberta Findlay, Doris Wishman, Roger
Watkins, and Dave Friedman, into the hard world. Before that, though, the
first three adult films I ever saw were Jim Clark’s The Good Girls of Godiva High (1979), Svetlana’s Bad Girls (1981), and Gerard Damiano’s Deep Throat (1972), which were secretly
recorded on unmarked Beta tapes a family friend gave to me since he knew I
collected them. Based on those three films (though I have soft spots for the
first two) I really had no interest in looking further into the genre. It
wasn’t until I saw Damiano’s Devil in
Miss Jones (1973), Graver’s Coed
Fever (1979), and Findlay’s Angel on
Fire (1974) that I realized there was so much more to classic adult than
what I had previously encountered. Then the floodgates opened and I’ve really
never stopped since.

A shot of the lovely Annette Haven around the time she shot Coed Fever.

This genre and period has typically been all but ignored in film studies and film history in general but this thankfully seems to be changing. Do you feel like the tide is finally beginning to change and that these films, and the artists who worked on film, might finally start to get some long overdue acknowledgement and recognition?

I definitely think the tide is turning and reappraisals
are in store for the genre and specific filmmakers in general. Radley Metzger
has been receiving the lion’s share of attention, but other directors like
Chuck Vincent, Rinse Dream, and performers-turned-directors like Candida
Royalle and Annie Sprinkle have been discussed in serious academic pieces. That
said I don’t know yet if we’ll see someone seriously tackle, say, Phil Prince
or Alex de Renzy outside of the book I’m working on. I’d love to be wrong!
Kevin Heffernan is the man for the job if anyone does a de Renzy project. The
big problem with writing about any part of the “golden age” of erotica
is it’s a grossly under-documented genre. Where major studio films and even
independent commercial films have some kind of paper trail and press coverage,
adult films generally don’t. Primary sources are the way to go, and they
unfortunately are not always around to present the full picture to researchers,
or aren’t willing to depending on how far they’ve moved on from the industry.
Plus some writers don’t want to go that extra mile and talk to a large number
of people before writing something. The great thing about adult film criticism
and scholarship is that there are many different voices out there working with
varied approaches to the genre, and frankly I don’t think we can ever have
enough people doing that.

There is of course a lot of mainstream opposition in the critical community to even discuss this genre. Have you felt any of that opposition to your own work?

Oddly enough, I personally have never felt any overt
opposition to my work writing about and documenting the genre except from other
similar researchers. But yes, there continues to be general opposition from
different corners of the academic and critical community. In the academic world
the fundamental argument of whether these films should exist is still being
fought decades after Linda Williams’ “Hard Core” established a definition of
the genre and why its existence matter. Authors like David Flint and Jack
Stevenson, Gloria Brame and Constance Penley, and many others continue the
dialogue in important and interesting ways. In the critical world, people tend
to equate all adult films with the contemporary state of the industry, which is so
different from how it used to be. It’s easy to forget Variety, New York Times, Newsweek, etc. reviewed adult titles
when it was considered hip to do so. Now that it’s becoming hip again to like
the classic films, maybe they’ll start getting more mainstream respect. Until
then, the cult surrounding them is very loyal and dedicated to their favorites,
as the filmmakers and performers learn.

Okay, lets talk up about In the Flesh, the exciting program you a curating at the Anthology Film Archives! Tell us about the program.

I’m giddy with excitement about this series! It all
started when Anthology Film Archives, which is in my opinion the edgiest
repertory theater in New York City, scheduled two back-to-back sexploitation
series this summer, a Russ Meyer series and a Something Weird Video series. I
approached Andrew Lampert, one of the masterminds at Anthology, and suggested
the natural progression in the history of sex in cinema was to do a hard series. To my surprise, he’d always wanted to do one! So I offered to program
the series for them, working with Steve Morowitz at Distribpix and Joe Rubin at
Vinegar Syndrome, since the three of us work really well together and share
such passion for these movies and their history. The great thing is that this
is not a one-time series. It will be a recurring quarterly series, so in every
Anthology calendar, there will be an “In the Flesh” event. Working with Steve
and Joe, the possibilities are endless. The March series is already scheduled,
featuring four “adult noir” titles, and Joe and I are hashing out the summer series
to be a departure from the previous series. Jed Rapfogel, the head programmer
at Anthology, has been tremendous to collaborate with on shaping and scheduling
the series, and their publicist Ava Tews has been a dream, too.

Why did you pick these particular films?

When you’re brainstorming a series like this, of course
you have titles that jump to the front of the queue, especially when working
with Distribpix and their incredible catalog of films. Two important factors
made the job easier: the films needed to be screened on 35mm and they needed to
have guests present to provide historical context. So we eliminated any films
that were only available on 16mm (sorry, Taking
of Christina) and I knew films with cast and/or crew who would possibly
attend a serious appreciative screening of their work. High Rise and Through the
Looking Glass were always at the top of my list, and thank God 35mm prints
exist! Take Off was a major title, and I knew I wanted a Larry Revene movie because his great book
just came out, he is a gifted storyteller, and the world needs to be aware of
what a treasure it has in Larry. I would have been happy to show his first
directorial effort, Fascination (1979),
if there was a print of it, but Wanda
Whips Wall Street is better-known and just as good, if not better. Veronica
Hart and Tish Ambrose always make everything better.

The program looks wonderful and I so wish I could be there. Through the Looking Glass and Wanda Whips Wall Street are two particular favorites of mine. I hope it is very successful and the first of many. What do you hope viewers take away from the series, particularly those who are newcomers to the genre?

I wish you could be there, too! The bummer about the
series is that it’s not a traveling roadshow. I’d love to take these films to
different venues around the country so that all their loving fans could see the
classics on the big screen, as they were meant to be seen. Maybe if you or any
of your readers suggest screenings at the local repertory or independent
theater, we can head to you! I think it’s a strong possibility if the interest
is there. The reason I wanted this series to happen was specifically so these
films would find a wider audience. Anthology’s audiences tend to be inquisitive
and adventurous, and have great taste, so I hope they discover some new
favorites and might develop curiosity into what else the genre has to offer. If
the audience comes away singing the High
Rise theme song, with goose bumps from the ending of Through the Looking Glass, moved by Take Off, and cheering for Veronica Hart after Wanda, I will be a happy man.

As a wrap-up I was hoping you might share some personal favorites with us. Could you perhaps name ten or so vintage adult films that you think are seriously in need of rediscovery. Also, are there any particular performers of filmmakers that you would particularly like to see rediscovered?

Wow, that’s a great question, and so different
from the expected “list your favorites of all time”! Um…I’m gonna cheat and give
you a lucky thirteen.High Rise (1972) – We’re showing it
in the Anthology series and it’s the least-known of the four, but should be
wider regarded as the best early adult comedy. The soundtrack is
Hollywood-caliber.Resurrection of Eve (1973) – It’s way
better than the Mitchell Brothers’ better-known Behind the Green Door and is also Marilyn Chambers’ best film.The Seduction of Lyn Carter (1974) –
Anthony Spinelli’s most neglected masterpiece, where Andrea True blows my mind
as a housewife in an abusive affair with Jamie Gillis that she secretly enjoys.Easy Alice (1976) – This is a
marvelous meta film about the off-screen adventures of a San Francisco adult star, Joey Silvera, who also reportedly directed the film.Punk Rock (1977) – Carter Stevens is
all around underrated, and I think this is his best film tied with Pleasure Palace (1979). See both,
they’re quintessential “adult noir”.Skin-Flicks (1978) – Damiano’s most
underrated film, wall-to-wall great performances, with special note made for
Sharon Mitchell as an adult star eager for true love.Tropic of Desire (1979) – Bob Chinn
weaves a fascinating story of a WWII-era brothel in Hawaii. A personal favorite
of Bob’s and I concur.Randy (1980) – The one adult film from
Phillip Schuman, this sex comedy following a clinical study of ‘anti-orgasmic’
women seeking a solution to their problem is one of the best films you’ve never
seen. The theme song is a catchy gem.The Seductress (1981) – Another of
Bob Chinn’s most underrated, out of a filmography that needs more attention in
general.Mascara (1982) – Lisa de Leeuw and
Lee Carroll are superb as, respectively, a sexually frustrated working woman
and the prostitute she enlists to help her broaden her horizons.Nasty Girls (1983) – Ron Sullivan’s
most unsung “day in the life” film, following a group of people over one night
at a bar as their lives intertwine.American Babylon (1985) – The Roger
Watkins film too few people have seen.Getting Personal (1985) – Ron
Sullivan directing Herschel Savage and Colleen Brennan as mismatched con
artists. Funny, touching, beautifully acted. One of the last great FILMS in the
genre before video took over.

Performers in need of rediscovery: I mentioned Tish
Ambrose earlier and she was a tremendous actress that needs a stronger
following. She is easily one of my picks for best adult film actress of all
time. So is Sharon Mitchell, who I think many take for granted given her years
in the business. She hits all the right notes in her acting performances; so
does Lisa de Leeuw. Merle Michaels is a favorite cult icon with superstar
quality, and I’d say the same about Sue Nero and Desiree West, Suzanne McBain
and Nicole Noir, Misty Regan and Jeanne Silver, the late Arcadia Lake and Kandi
Barbour.

The much missed Kandi Barbour, who we lost in 2012.

I’ll stop there! As a gay man, there are underrated studs like Jeffrey
Hurst, Ron Hudd, Mike Ranger, and John Seeman I would follow anywhere. Their
wives are very lucky!

Directors in need of rediscovery: Alan Colberg was consistently great, as was
Jeffrey Fairbanks, and both only made a handful of films so their names are not
widely known as they should be. Two directors who are big names yet still don’t
get the full credit they deserve are Bob Chinn and Ron Sullivan (Henri Pachard).
But the most underrated are the French classic directors, like Claude Mulot,
Gerard Kikoine, Francis Leroi, Didier Philippe-Gerard, and Claude
Bernard-Aubert. Their films aren’t widely available here but they are almost
always a guaranteed bargain.

Awesome Casey! Thanks so much for participating in this and I wish you all the best of luck with In the Flesh and all of your upcoming work. I look forward to doing another one of these down the road to discuss more of your upcoming projects.

I am the editor and co-creator of the quarterly print only publication Art Decades as well as the author of the upcoming From Emmanuelle to Chabrol: Sylvia Kristel in the Seventies. I'm also the creator of a number of film and music blogs including Moon in the Gutter, Fascination: The Jean Rollin Experience, The Sylvia Kristel Archives and Harry Moseby Confidential. I live in Colorado with my wife Kelley and our three dogs Maizie, Topper and Ziggy Pop.